Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Photography on March 22 2016, by Matt Newman
The daffodils are waking! And with the first bloom of our massive expansion of the historic Narcissus collection on Daffodil Hill just beginning, it’s likely to be a huge year for these sunny flowers. Stay tuned.
Narcissus ‘February Gold’ in the Liasson Narcissus Collection – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on April 3 2014, by Matt Newman
Success! The earliest arrivals in the daffodil flotilla can be seen making their appearance around the Visitor Center. In fact, because of the delayed spring, we may have daffodils and tulips overlapping in a flood of mixed color. That’s from Associate Vice President of Outdoor Collections Kristin Schleiter herself in a recent chat with The New York Times.
Daffodils at the Visitor Center – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on April 14 2013, by Matt Newman
The winter months drag by with all the monotony of reading a dictionary, yet a single week in spring changes everything.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on April 9 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.
It’s come in fits and starts this year. Snow falls one day, only to vanish in an instant through heat or a heavy rain. With all the yo-yoing we have experienced this winter, oscillating from warm to cold, the fluctuating temperatures have sent me and many of my colleagues home with lingering ailments as our bodies try to figure out what’s going on.
While walking through the Garden in these early days of spring, I notice that Mother Nature is equally confused. The persistent cold has slowed down the cycle of spring, leaving us somewhere between one and two weeks behind schedule in terms of spring bloom. Once the warm temperatures arrive in earnest, things will accelerate. What this means for now is that some of the early signs of spring–the ones that we usually like to see from our living room windows–are out and worth perusing.
The Cornelian cherries (Cornus mas) started flowering around the very end of March this year, whereas they usually bloom sometime in the middle of the month. As one of the many cheerful harbingers of spring, they’re a welcome sight; the 15-foot, multi-stemmed branching shrub is smothered with tiny umbels bursting with golden yellow, star-shaped flowers.
Posted in Photography on April 1 2012, by Ann Rafalko
Next year, instead of planting the majestic beauty that is Daffodil Hill, we’re going to plant one single daffodil, and call it Daffodil Frill. Just kidding! Happy April Fool’s Day friends!
Daffodil Frill (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Around the Garden, Gardening Tips on March 26 2012, by Matt Newman
Meteorology is something of an inexact science. Some days, forecasting the weather seems a little closer in discipline to fortune telling. And after all of the comforting reassurance (we were so set on it!) that the cold was behind us and nothing but picturesque spring days lay ahead, the hard freeze set to plow through New York tonight has shoulders slumping in gardens across the region. But, while it’s tempting, skip leading a pitchfork mob to your weatherman’s house. Shooting the messenger never solved any problems, especially when nature is such a fickle character.
The inbound chill may be grim news for many of the early blooms that sprung out of dormancy at the first sign of warm weather. But which petals will pull through, and which are facing the axe? We asked Kristin Schleiter, our acting Director of Outdoor Gardens, to chime in with her take on the situation. Depending on what you’re keeping in your home garden, you may be in the clear.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on March 15 2012, by Matt Newman
There may be no sign of spring more qualified to herald new buds and blooms than the dewy face of a yellow daffodil. They’re poking up here and there throughout the Garden, where they might as well be waving picket signs announcing that “WINTER IS SPENT.”
Narcissus ‘Maria’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen